Black-Owned Business

In season three of NBC’s Rebound, we gave three business owners cameras to document their journey as small Black-owned businesses in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The owners of Chicago’s Lingua Nigra jewelry company, Miami’s hair care brand Kazmaleje and DC’s Goodies Frozen Custard and Treats joined NBCLX storyteller Ngozi Ekeledo to talk about the importance of supporting Black...

Hair discrimination has existed for centuries, but recent legislation, like the 2019 CROWN Act, seeks to change that. LaToya Stirrup, co-founder of Kazmaleje, talks about how Kazmaleje is working to pass on a legacy aimed at supporting and empowering men, women and kids alike, no matter what type of hair they choose to rock.

After a year of delays amid the coronavirus pandemic, Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats finally opened its first brick and mortar location in a historic ice house in Old Town Alexandria. Owner Brandon Byrd talks about the historical significance of being one of the few Black business owners in the area, which played a prominent role in the transatlantic trade...

With increased sales in the last year, Chicago-based Lingua Nigra founder and designer Alicia Goodwin hopes to move into a bigger space and expand her team to increase jewelry production. Being a Black, female-owned business, Lingua Nigra was in high demand as a social justice movement saw many around the country seeking to elevate and support Black-owned businesses. But she...

After the Southwest Soda Pop Shop put out a plea for help during the pandemic, long lines of people flocked to try their ice cream treats. Now, a grant from a big company is helping them serve customers more quickly. News4’s Jummy Olabanji reports.

Whether you have straight hair, curly hair, locs, waves, braids, a perm, or a wig, everyone’s hair journey is different. But unfortunately, the wide variety of hair types and textures isn’t always evident in mainstream media or marketing. LaToya Stirrup, co-founder of Kazmaleje, shares how the company is trying to break the mold to be inclusive of all hair types,...

The pandemic has been hard on businesses, especially those that are minority-owned. Now, a big corporation is working to keep them open. News4’s Jummy Olabanji reports.

No one knows better than Brandon Byrd that running a business can be precarious: In his journey toward opening a storefront for Goodies, a frozen custard truck in the D.C. area, he’s rebounded from several setbacks. One of them being a worldwide pandemic that hit when he was preparing to remodel an old ice house for his storefront in Old...

Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats, a Black-owned dessert truck in the D.C. area, is on its way to expanding its dessert empire by opening its first brick and mortar store in Old Town Alexandria. After an electrical issue delayed his grand opening, the only thing stopping owner Brandon Byrd from realizing his dream is the sign-off from a city...

Lingua Nigra largely depends on beautiful online publicity to display new and current pieces. Along with travel restrictions and travel fears, founder Alicia Goodwin found creative ways to keep her social media active and even bought an extra set of ears to help get the job done. After not being able to execute a photoshoot for new designs in...

Juggling motherhood, a hair care business, and the challenges that come along with being a “mompreneur” can be overwhelming — but Kazmaleje co-founder LaToya Stirrup finds a way to balance it all while still prioritizing self-care and mental health. With passion for Kazmaleje’s mission and support from family and friends, LaToya shares how she gets it all done.

Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats, a Black-owned dessert truck in the D.C. area, created a loyal following by focusing on its signature flavor: vanilla custard. As cities begin to open back up from pandemic shutdowns, owner Brandon Byrd is hoping that loyalty follows his business to the new Goodies brick and mortar store.

Lingua Nigra founder Alicia Goodwin recounts last year’s delays with the U.S. Postal Service and explains how she manages sending out orders now. As more craft shows start to open, along with new mask guidelines in place, Goodwin decides to not rely on mail shipments as much. “That’s not a possibility for me,” Goodwin said.

Hair. It comes in all textures, colors, lengths, types and densities. But for Black women, the topic of hair can be complex — especially when it comes to caring for your natural locs. Enter Kazmaleje, a Miami-based business focused on creating hair tools and products for curly and kinky hair types. The business was launched by three sisters with a…

As the coronavirus pandemic collided with a surge in calls for racial equity over the summer, jewelry brand Lingua Nigra gained thousands of followers and new orders almost overnight after being included in many lists of Black-owned businesses to support. With a new increase in orders and a larger following, founder and artist Alicia Goodwin is trying to keep that...

News4’s Molette Green talks to the owner of Oh So Good Organics about the challenges Black-owned businesses face when trying to recover from the pandemic’s economic devastation.

As Mented attempts to gather more funding, CEO KJ Miller examines how other, non-Black-owned businesses performing worse than her company are able to raise more money from venture capitalists. Plus, as the nation deals with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others, Mented doubles down on its values and speaks out publicly about injustice.

Like thousands of small business owners across the country, the pandemic challenged Vicktor Stevenson, owner of San Francisco’s gourmet lemonade stand Gourmonade, in new and unexpected ways. But one thing hasn’t changed: a diehard following affectionately known as the ‘Gourmonade fam,’ who are so inspired by Stevenson that they go above and beyond to support the brand – even acting...

New partnerships with stores like Target and Ulta, plus a marketing shift, means more demand for Mented products. But you can do everything right and still be set back because of port delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Mented CEO KJ Miller and her small team must navigate expansion while continuing to try and raise funds to be able to...

A former bar on Potomac Avenue will soon be known expanded to “Sandlot Southeast,” a venue for Black-owned restaurants to have a rent-free kitchen to showcase their food in partnership with a social equity program from Uber Eats.